Friday, June 10, 2011

Progs oppose a bank on Divisadero

City progressives are now asking us to oppose a branch office of the JP Morgan Chase bank on Divisadero in the former Cheese Store location. Why? Dean Preston says in Beyond Chron that banks should be rejected because they qualify as "chain stores" and "formula retail," just like Burger King or Walmart. Quintin Mecke---who never met a "progressive" issue in SF that he didn't endorse---agrees in the Bay Guardian. (Can Fog City be far behind?)

But is there any such thing as a mom-and-pop bank? Aren't all bank branches in SF part of chains? Is there a local, mom-and-pop business competing with JP Morgan Chase for that space? Where do Dean Preston and Quintin Mecke bank? Mecke is on Assemblyman Ammiano's staff here in SF. Does Ammiano pay him in cash so that he doesn't have to soil his PC hands by using a bank?

Is it better to have an empty storefront---of which there are already too many on Divisadero---than have a bank in that location?

Sometimes it's necessary to go to a branch for transactions that you can't perform on an ATM machine.

The credit union you link seems to have only two branches in SF, and, unless they were also bidding for the Divisadero property, it's not relevant to the discussion. It seems unlikely that Chase would open a branch on Diviz that the bank didn't need.

The first commenter claims that the Cheese Store and other businesses were evicted in favor of Chase. Even if that's true, neither of the leftists mentioned used that as a reason to deny Chase that location. Instead, pure, goofball, "progressive" ideology seems to be the reason for their opposition.

Both the Country Cheese Store and Five Star Truffles had been there for 26 and 4 years, respectively. The strong arming by Chase in replacing these businesses, not "pure goofball 'progressive' ideology," is the main cause for people opposing this development.

There is also, of course, the lingering hard feelings regarding the actions of major financial institutions like Chase Bank, which lead to the Great Recession (which, if you're paying attention, you know better as "the beginning of the end"). Supporting Chase Bank moving into Divisadero is equal to being on the side of the Banksters. But you would never be caught expressing hypocritical viewpoints in back-to-back posts...

Where's the evidence that Chase "strong-armed" anyone? It's just as likely that these businesses were killed by the recession. Funny that neither Mecke nor Preston mentioned the alleged strong-arming. Everyone I know---except a few junkies---has a bank account somewhere. Why is Chase any more morally unacceptable than Bank of America or Wells Fargo? Where's my alleged hypocrisy?

Chase used their considerable financial resources to offer more money than the Cheese Store and Five-Star Truffle could afford. Good for Chase and the building's owners, bad for everyone else.

Sure everyone has a bank account, but not everyone writes blog posts decrying the "banksters." If you have a problem with major financial institutions, put your money where your mouth is. You can't hate on banks and then hate on people who hate on banks. You're living in a schizophrenic world, and we're all the worse for it.

Commenters keep saying that Chase outbid the stores in that building, but if there's no evidence for that it becomes more of a neighborhood legend that fits prog ideology but not a fact.

"Put my money" where other than a bank? I could put it in a coffee can and bury it in the bank yard, I suppose, if my building had a backyard. I use one of the big banks, not because I approve of its politics or its practices, but because they have ATMs all over the city.